Tubular casing



Aug. 26, 1952 H. RUMSEY, JR 2,608,488

' TUBULAR CASING Filed June s, 1949 2 SHEETS- SHEET 1 l 14 12 /510 14zzzfuuzzzm;

Aug. 26, 1952 H. RUMSEY, JR 2,608,488

TUBULAR CASING Filed June 8. 1949 2 Sl'lEETS--SHEET 2 INVENTOR. lzererKuma/y, J:

Patented ug. 216, 1195?:l

-TUBULAR QASING Herbert Itumsey, Jr., Rochester, N. Y. d

Application June 8, `1949, Serial No. 97,811 i claims. (o1. csa-4176 toan improved ,tubularV y casing particularly a casing of the type usedfor encasing food products, for instance plastic meat products such assausage meat, ground meat and the like.` i

It is` an object of theinvention to provide an improvedgcasing of theabove character which is made from readily available, inexpensivematerials, which is simple and inexpensiveto manufacture, which can bereadily used even by inexperienced operators to provide an encased foodproduct, which serves very satisfactorily to protect` and enclose theproduct while it is being transported, displayed or stored and which'can be readily opened and the contents either partially or completelyremoved `whenever desired.

My invention contemplates the fabrication of a tubular Vcasing from asheet or strip of synthetic plastic `material (particularly athermoplastic material) `by folding the strip or sheetlongitudinally'andoverlapping and sealing the longitudinal vedges in theimproved manner hereinafter described so that the edges will remain inclosed positionwhen in ordinary use but can be readily openedwhendesired. My improved casing has an attractive appearance and when it isused to encase a foodproduct such as sausage, bologna, frankfurts orground meat or the like it not only has the utilitarian advantages setforth above but also has considerable eye-appeal.

lurther objects will be apparent from the following detailed descriptionof the drawings in which-f Figi is `a perspective view of an elongatedtubular casingembodying my invention;

Eig. `2 is a cross sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig.` `1;

Fig'.V 2a is adetailed View showing the fused connection between theoverlapping portions of the casing;

Fig. 3 illustrates one method in which myV casing may be made from sheetor strip material;

Fig. l` is an `elevational view of a meat product wrapped in my improvedcasing;

Fig.- 5iswa longitudinal sectional view of a modified type of stuiiinghorn that may be used in .filling my improved casing;

Fig. l6 isa side view of the stuiiing horn with the` casing appliedthereto and showing one step in Ifilling the casing;

Fig. 7 is a'view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating the manner in which theindividual food products or units may be separated from each other andfrom the end of the stuffing horn; and

Fig. 8 is an elevationalview of a plurality of individual food productsor units incorporated in the same casing.

As shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, my improved casing, Villustratedgenerally by the numeral Ill. is made of anelongatedstrip or sheetconfor the end of `the package 'ori product fas tw ,edges fused orsealed together. i

tively loose connection for the area LIS?. 'Iihus' 2 I of thermoplasticlilmmolded longitudinally upon itself and secured together, preferablyinanori-` continuous manner, along the overlapping longif tudinal edgesto provide an elongated tube. o Various types of thermoplasticsheetmaterial- .i may be employed such as cellulose acetate,` vinyl/resin or rubber hydrochloride. However, I prefer'- to employ a materialwhich is slightly elastic and'` resilient and for this purpose I havefound that i rubber hydrochloride, available on the marketff1 under thetrade mark namePliolm, `partie-d` v ularly the type of Plioiilmidentified as llFPliolf'; film is very satisfactory. Thestriplor `sheetof Plioilm or other material is preferablyrelatively long and narrow andis i folded longitudinally I upon itself with the overlappingportionssecuredfj together at a pluralityof spaced points or'spo'tsjtoform a casing or tube. I i a y 7 fl The'specific manner in which Ipreferto secure "l the edges together is shown most clearly in Fig 1 and2. Thus, one longitudinal edge `portion 'I-I- and a strip or area I2adjacent the second lon'g'i- 1 tudinal edge portion are in overlappingrelation ship and are attached together with the secondfd I mentionedlongitudinal edge portionf illustrated -f at I3,'arranged in the form ofa flap overlyingL the attached area. While the iiap I3 is desirable itis not `essential and may be omitted if desredsf The `edge portion IIand the `por-tion -I21 are' `secured together in'a manner thatwillwithstad ordinary usageibut which can be separatedwh desired to"openthelcasingl ForV this rpurpd'se i prefer to attach the two portionstogetherinthe` manner taught in my 'co'pendin'g` patent applicationSerial No. 37,978 filed July `10,1948'and-,now PatentNo. 2,545,243,and-SerialNox84,29731ed,- March30, 1949. Thus, the overlappingpor-'tidns-i I I and I2 are fused at a plurality of spaced points 'f orspots providing spaced apertures I4 with their In the tubular casing I0the spaced aperturesv with fused edges indicated at I4 may.` extendlfonftheentirelength of the'casing but arefpreferf ably extended throughareas indicatedatli araf' ranged in spaced relationship with respectvtoleach other and having areas I6 therebetween? which are freeorsubstantially free .of such aper# tures vand fused spotsm Such areasIB mayjybeprovided with one such aperture` I4.at aboutthez` centralportion thereof so as to .providea.rela-,1yV

it will be seen that the tubular casing'cIlIchas alternate attachedareas I5 and substantiallyLun- V`` attached areas `Iii extending.throughout.*.the':V length thereof. ,A y f i IN1 The attached areas I5are preferablyvsubsta' tially equal in length to the' length of..theipac age or product to which: thencasingfrisigtobe appliedand theareasIE `serve asfthe lclsures be later more fully explained and shouldbe long enough to serve for this purpose.

The fused apertures I4 may be made in any desired manner as, forinstance, by means of the .apparatus-disclosed inmy aboveidentifiedpatent.

applications.4 Thus, in Fig. 3 I have shown apparatus of the typedisclosed in my patent application Serial No. 84,297 comprising acylindrical member 24 mounted for rotary movement;

and having a heating element I'I at the central portion thereof andprojecting prongs I8 which are heated by the heating element II to asuf.- ciently high temperature so that they will fuse the Plioilm orother thermoplastic material? when they engage therewith.

A- platen I9; is provided above. the; cylinder: having an aperture: 2,0.formedi therein. throughA whihlthe prongs lproject.` Thezaperture--andouter overlapping portion I 2. of the thermoplastic material can then bebrought into contact. withY they prongs I8 and drawn over. the cylinderor rotor causing it to rotate; The circumference ofthe cylinder can besuch that one` rotation thereof will cause an area of the desiredlength..

When theV area Iv has been thusformed the operator skips an area I6. ofthe desired length makingpasinglel engagement as at the centralyportiony thereof with one of the prongs so as to.v form. anA apertureVI4. Thereafter, the operation is .repeated throughout the length of thecasing.l

It--will be-.appreciated that when. the prongs. engage .thesheetmaterial it causes it to .fusev or meltl at a plurality of spacedpointsforming aper-y turesatf-these.points Upon cooling of the. ma:-

atfuspaced circular points. f

A-shield of non-thermoplastic material: which is unaffected by thetemperature of. the .prongs is preferably inserted in the casing inbackfofr the .overlapp ing.portions II and I2 during. thefusinggoperationV as shown at 23.

After forming and fusing` the. casing the outer'.

longitudinal edge or fla-p13 is folded back against theeoverlappingportions .II and I2.' If desired the ap I3 maybe heldin this positionbylightly fusingfit or spotting it With an adhesive.V ever-, the'.twisting of the ends in the `finished packagefashereafter explainedserves adequatelyV to hold the ap in place.

When the tubular casing- I `has. been: com*- pleted in this fashion itcan be used in the usual mannerof synthetic casingl for encasingplastici meat products Asuch as sausage. meat, frankfurts,

hamburger, bologna. or the like. In. this connection'ran elongatedlength of the casing may be filled in interrupted fashion throughouteach of4 the;.areas I'leaving vvoids orr unfilled areas` throughout theareas I6. Each of the areasfl canrthen be severed at its central`portion, at or HOW?.-

terial; it-vvillbe fused or sealedaround ,the pee-'45 ripheral-'edgesholding, thetwo layers together near .the .fused aperture, providing`several products or packages each of' Which may be .closedl andy sealedat the endsor, if preferred, the casing4 maybe separated at, each of.the intervals'. Il

of the product.

A sealed in a suitable manner.

4 prior to filling and each separate casing section thus provided can beseparately lled throughout the area I5 and closed or sealed at the endareas I6.

In Fig. 4 I have'illustrated:anished product or package 2| encased in asection of 'my improved tubular casing I0. The package is lled with aproduct such as sausage meat and the perforated sealed area I5 extendsfor the length The unsealed areas I6 at the two-ends of" the packagehave been closed and Thus, the two end portions have been twistedtightly so as to stress the' Pliolm or other material beyond its elasticlimit but short of its yield point and when the torque or twisting forceis. thereafter. released the twisted ends: remainv in their closed orf.vtwisted condition. aszshovvnt at 22:

Prior to` twistingI thesends,` theoperator shoulcl! be sure that theouter longitudinal edge portion4 orxfiap. I3 is folded' back upon theportionsv I I: and I2 soi as to cover therapertures.` Ther. twisting; iofthe ends` Will then` retainV theflap I31fin this@ relationship. i

A. package: of the` type as:` illustrated'-in Eig." 41% Will remain in:closed position andwillinotf accidentally open and: thecontents.Atlclereef''arelfillyV protected. Thus, it'willibe.seen-thatlthe:overlap-^r pingiiap I3 extends overthe'sealhgfaperturesserving as a closuretherefor. 'If-hef twisted-ends;22 Will remaintightly closedhwhenmadeei'n the manner described' aboveand thesealing apertures I4 Vserve to hold theoverlappingportions-oftlieY casing in attached relationship.H'owevenvthee:

. package. may: loe readily opened-when desired-bym untvvisting oneorlooth of the ends thereof WfherrY the end has beenuntvvisted-itWi-llbeappreciatedii that, since the overl'appingl edges ofthisarea-AVA have not loeen attached together,l they; may-bef` readilyseparatedfandlby pulling/trie:-tvvofV edgesv. apart the fusedconnection-aroundithe apertures'VA I Ll.. may bel readily brokenthroughout ythe--=areafI 5lr particularly dueto the factthat-thesefused--connections are in spacedrelationship;V

The opening action may *be-readily-controlledf so asv to breaktlieconnectionr throug-houtthe entire lengthofthe packageor foronlyar-porticn thereof. If it is only desired to dispense or'u'seafportion. of the contents,-th'e `package maybe partially opened, a-portionI of the con-tents removed and thereafter the endportion.which-has-:been' opened may again be twisted tightlyagainstrtlfie: package and Will serve`v to hold iti-nclosed'mrelationship` In. closing the package'leach time-theoperatorshould be careful to arrange tlieffi'ap#,'-l'L in overlappingrelationshipwith` respect to lthe perforated area. A The casing may,lof' courseybefilled any vcle-Q- sired manner. Where the-casingri'stohoused-"infelongated .fashion to providea numberref Isepth rate foodproducts such-as` frankfurtspsausages or the like, I preferablyllthefcasing byapplyingit to. av stuffing horn; of the typesshownlinFigsf5, 6s and. 7 attached. to: a5-sausagestuffei'v;` The-i `stulng horntakes the form of larcylindrical tube Y 25 having.. attaching. fiange.26.1 connectedbythreaded-.collar 2l to. .the outlet nozzle'-'1.18ot'ftv1sausagestuffer..

The'sausage stuifer is operated -in-the--usual-* manner to dischargeplastic or grou-nd"meat prodi ucts under pressure, through the apertureZtla'ndI thence outwardly through my cylindrical stuffing horn. Theouter end of the-"stuffing horn'is ,I

provided' with a ring-shaped or annular,l il'at" .plate 3'0 mountedonacol-lar--S'I secured'to the stufilng horn by set screw 32. The plate30 is slightly `smaller in diameter than the diameter of the tubularcasing to be stuffed thereby.

In operation, the casing is drawn over the plate 30 onto the cylindricalstuffing horn 25 and a suflcient length is thus placed over the horn toprovide the desired number of frankfurts, sausage or the like. Aconsiderable length of casing may thus be drawn over the stuing hornsince it may be arranged in shirred or telescopic fashion on thestuffing horn as shown at 33 in Figs. 6 and 7. The extreme end of thecasing is withdrawn beyond the plate 30 and the end area I6 iscompressed and held in closed position in the hand of the operator. Thesausage stuifer is thenoperated to dispense a sufficient quantity ofground meat to fill the casing for the length of one area I5. In thisconnection, the area I may be so arranged as to be capable of holding areasonable amount of ground meat, for instance one pound, or any desiredfraction thereof, and the sausage stuffer is arranged and operated todispense a measured amount into the casing upon each operation. Theoperator slightly resists the force of the meat discharged into thecasing so as to cause the casing to be expanded and filled throughoutthe area I5.

When one area I5 has thus been lled the operator, with his ngers or withan implement, as shown at 34 in Figs. 6 and 7 wipes across the face ofthe plate so as to cause a clean separation between the contents of thearea I2 and the plate 30 and the undispensed meat in the stulfer. Thissame result may be accomplished in other manners as, for instance, bysimply grasping the stuffed portion of the casing in the hand of theoperator and twisting it sharply, but only slightly,

causing a complete break between the contents of the casing and theplate 30 and the undispensed portion of the meat. Simultaneously, thelled portion I5 is drawn outwardly from the plate 30.

Thereafter, the next unsealed area I6 is tightly pressed together by theoperator and the next succeeding area I5 is lled in similar fashion.This operation is repeated until each of the areas I5 of the casing onthe stufng horn has been lled with the areas I 6 left void or unfilled.The casing and contents will Vthen appear as shown in Fig. 8 withalternate filled and empty areas. The filled portions extendingthroughout the length of the areas I5 and the unfilled portionsextending throughout the unsealed areas I6. A number of separate unitsor products are thus provided which may be severed from each other atthe center of each area I6 and the area I6 may then be closed in themanner described with respect to the package or product shown in Fig. 4.In other words, after lproperly arranging iiap I3, the unattached areasat the end of each unit may be tightly twisted so as to stretch thePliolm beyond its elastic limit but short of the yield point and thetwisted portions will then be retained in closed position. Instead oftwisting the ends, they may be closed by heat sealing, tying withstringor any other desired method.

It will thus be seen that I have provided an improved tubular casingwhich is made from readily available, relatively inexpensive materials,which is inexpensive to manufacture. which can be readily used even byinexperienced operators to provide encased food products, which willserve to protect the contents and will not accidentally open duringshipment, storage and display and which can be readily opened whendesired so that all or only a portion of the contents are available.Modifications may, of course, be made in the illustrated and describedembodiment without departing from my invention as set forth in theaccompanying claims.

I claim:

l. An artiiicial casing for food products comprising an elongated stripof thin thermoplastic film folded longitudinally upon itself withportions arranged in overlapping relationship so as to form a tubingsaid overlapping portions being detachably connected together by meansof a plurality of spaced apertures extending through said portions withthe edges of the apertures fused together.

2. An artificial casing for food products as set forth in claim 1 havinga ap integrally connected with said lm and positioned to cover theapertures in the overlapping portions.

3. An artificial casing for food products comprising an elongated stripof thin thermoplastic film folded longitudinally upon itself withportions arranged in overlapping relationship so as to form a tube saidoverlapping portions being provided with areas alternately arrangedlongitudinally of the tube in which the portions are detachably securedtogether by means of a plurality of spaced apertures extending throughsaid portions and having their edges fused together and also havingareas between said alternate areas in which said overlapping por-- tionsare substantially free from attachment.

4. An artificial casing for food products as set forth in claim 3 havinga flap integrally connected with said lm and arranged so that it willcover the apertures in the overlapping portions.

5. An artificial casing for food products as set forth in claim 3 inwhich the thermoplastic film is made of an elastic resilient material.

HERBERT RUMISEY, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the i'lle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 990,547 Gunuskey Apr. 25, 19111,617,848 Henderson Feb. 15, 1927 1,659,375 Schmidt Feb. 14, 19281,890,215 De Cressey Dec. 6, 1932 1,959,978 Freund May 22, 19342,101,958 Sachsenroder Dec. 14, 1937 2,136,106 Kern Nov. 8, 19382,138,462 Trabold Nov. 29, 1938 2,210,436 Weingand et al. Aug. 6, 19402,328,018 Irmscher Aug. 31, 1943 2,335,159 Salsberg Nov. 23, 19432,362,460 Barnett Nov. 14, 1944 2,384,462 Goodman Sept. 11, 1945 OTHERREFERENCES Food Industries. February 1939, pages 78 and 79, articleentitled Zipper Sausage Has More.

1. AN ARTIFICIAL CASING FOR FOOD PRODUCTS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED STRIPOF THIN THERMOPLASTIC FILM FOLDED LONGITUDINALLY UPON ITSELF WITHPORTIONS ARRANGED IN OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP SO AS TO FORM A TUBINGSAID OVERLAPPING PORTIONS BEING DETACHABLY CONNECTED TOGETHER BY MEANSOF A PLURALITY OF SPACED APERTURES EXTENDING THROUGH SAID PORTIONS WITHTHE EDGES OF THE APERTURES FUSED TOGETHER.